[Pathfinder] Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords: The Hook Mountain Massacre

[hewligan]

Silence falls over the group. Jokad offer up some irrefutable wisdom. Jokad catches the look on Jovik's face. Not disappointment, but almost disgust. Still, the Shoanti was certain that his idea was the only viable, the only responsible action.

The group moved together in silence, seven battle weary men, a dog, and a bear. They half carried, half supported the rangers out of the barn and quickly away along the edge of the barn and into the woods.

The ogres would find the corpses of their brothers soon, but for now it was quiet. Perhaps the homestead's occupants were used to loud noises and screams. After all, the three young ogre-kin had been coming out for some alcohol and torture. Perhaps screams were quite a normal noise around here.

Danth shrugged his shoulders when they arrived back at the horses. Jokad was right, but that didn't make retreat fun. They had done it before, of course, and they would no doubt have to do it again, for they valued their lives too much to throw them away in useless rage.

The four horses took the three injured men, and the others took turns of the remaining horse. It was a slow journey, of course, dictated by the speed of foot, but nobody seemed to follow them. Thirty minutes out and they heard a distant noise, carried from far on the wind across the falling land. It sounded like an animal rage.

After that, they heard nothing but the wind, and the sound of the rain on their armour.

Turtleback ferry was still not a welcoming sight. A really shanty town, coming at it from this angle made it almost look as if it was huddled against the water's edge as if shirking away in fear.

The first welcome sight was an old woman who, on the narrow road into town, stopped to move to one side to let the men past, and seeing the injured party, shouted after them "Give those ogres hell boys!"

Little did she know that the fort itself was in the hands of these ogres.

Kael took care of getting the animals, including Kibb, stabled for the night, while Danth went ahead to book a complex of rooms, lots of hot food, and enough hot water to bathe everyone.

It may be a retreat, but it may as well be a warm and relaxed one.

OOC: I am in Munich Tue/Wed. Please let me know what you want to do. You can ask any questions you want of the 3 men (with rolls if required/relevant). If you want them to fully recover, then either 3 days to recover the extreme fatigue, or you can use magic if you have any.

 

[frostrune]

The trip back to Turtleback Ferry is a hard one for Jokad. Retreat stung his youthful pride and the disappointment in the eyes of his friend made the pill all the more bitter. But the truth was he wasn't fit to fight. He stoically pressed on but with every move his muscles burned with fatigue. Normally he could have carried one of those withered rangers over each shoulder, but under the crippling effects of the spider venom he had everything he could do carry his own weapons and armor. Pathetic. His anger raged but his body would not, could not, respond.

He thanked Kael for tending to the horses and shrugged off his harness before collapsing into a chair with a great mug of ale. He had long since burned the fumes of his hangover from his system.

Everyone in the Turtle stared at the haggard group but Danth did a good job of keeping the questions to a minimum. We weren't yet sure how much panic we wanted to spread among the populous. Some of the Black Arrows were recognized and gossip would inevitably spread. Someone would have to be told the truth and sent on to Magnimar with all haste. Ahhh... too much for his aching head. Let Danth and Kael figure out how to deal with a frightened populous. He needed to know how the fort fell and what kind of numbers the ogres had massed. Jokad and Jovik had travelled these lands before. They knew if the Black Arrows were indeed gone, the entire country side was defensless against further ogre conquest.

He hoped Danth did indeed have a quick a cure for this spider venom. His brows knotted and his face darkened. He and friends might have to sell their lives dearly simply to slow the onslaught and hopefully give these simple folk some time to escape.

His father would say heroes are fools. He also would be proud of him.


OOC: Jokad would want to talk with the rangers as they recover to get the full story of what happened at the fort. He would like to know how many ogres? tactics? leaders? their intentions (if known)? He would also inquire about how some of his friends may have fared or how they fell.

 

[Fenris]

OOC: I agree with Frosty, we need to get the story from the rangers.

Jovik trudges along, lost in his own thoughts. The poison burned in his veins as well, but it was tempered by visions of 5 dead ogres, several with with knife wounds in their necks.

Still this was the path they were now treading, and the barn lay in the past. As did the house and he knew that that house would haunt them for not taking care of it. Their handy work had been found, he was sure from the screams. Still a smile crept over his face as he thought about the scene. Four ogres, dead with almost no noise. A fifth ogre who never came home with his hounds. And the prisoners gone. All with almost no trace. It gave him a nice sense of mystery. Perhaps the remaining Grauls would think there were more Black Arrows left than they thought. Which there were two more than last week counting he and Jokad.

Back in Turtleback Ferry. Jovik was somber but still active. He knew what Jokad needed; beer and lots of it. He got the party into a corner booth and ordered up lots of food and ale. He knew the rangers would have missed the hoppy taste and were in need of some real food not just the rations they had been wolfing down.

 

[Rhun]

OOC: Just an FYI...I've been swamped this week, but should have some time tonight to get up a post for Danth.

 

[Friadoc]

Kael knew that getting the rangers to safety, as well as replenishing their stores, was the right choice. Unlike the others, Kael knew the price of pushing beyond their reserves, pushing beyond reason with bloodlust pulsing in their veins, and it knew that price quite well.

The difference between a hero and fodder is an easy one; fodders throws its self into the breech without a thought in its head, while a hero walks the razor's edge between discretion and haphazard.

While it might not feel that way to some of his fellows, Kael knows that the reason the Wolves of Sandpoint are the inspiration that they are is because they return from throwing themselves headlong into danger, even if sometimes a bit worse for wear.

The closer they get to town, the more Kael tries to keep a somber, yet uplifting attitude. Not only for his fellows, but the rangers, as well. Not quite gallows humor, but definitely veteran humor. Making it evident as they travel, Kael knows, as they all know, that they shall return to battle the orders and that they shall be taught a lesson most harsh.

Each of the Wolves has an insular gift, however when combined with that of each of the others those gifts make for an impressive thing, when it works together. The slain ogres show evidence of that, and more shall show it before the tale is done.

Once back in town, Kael will help make sure that the groups supplies are accounted for, spending what monies are needed, and he'll also make sure that the surviving rangers are accounted for, too. He'll keep the nature of events silent from the general popular, as they've no need to know, yet. For the moment, it just looks like a wounded patrol in need of solace from their wounds. Nothing more, nothing less.

OOC:

Working up post, should be here in a few, work is being a pain during school schedule. Sorry.

 

[hewligan]

OOC: Frostrune - EXCELLENT post!

The men sleep, then talk. Jokad drinks, then sleeps, then talks. Jovik ... not quite so much drink as he had initially planned (the hangover from the day before still lingered enough to make the beer taste 'wrong'). Danth rested with the three men, checking their wounds, and planning what magic to call upon the next day. Kael enjoyed a beer or two with Jovik, before hunger and then weariness, got the better of him too.

When morning came, the men, all seven of them, crowded round a large table in a private room. The table was laden with warm bread, its yeasty smell competing with the soft yet sharp cheddar smell. Warm ham, fried in butter, was brought in on plates, the melted fat and butter mopped up by the bread. And then, a real treat, fresh duck eggs, boiled but runny.

The men ate ravenously, speaking at intervals, sharing their story.

Jakardos, the leader of these men, turned out to also be the leader of the fort - the new commander. Jovik knew exactly what that meant, but he bit his tongue...

Jakardos spoke the most. He told of the troubles. There had been ogre activity unlike any seen in living memory. The Kreegs, a powerful clan of ogres, appear to have won supremacy over a large region of land around the fort and up towards the mountains. They started making raids, taking supply caravans due for the fort, snatching one or two men from patrols at night, even one full-scale pitched battle against a patrol of 12 black arrows and 6 ogres. The black arrows had fled that one, down 4 men.

The fort had doubled its watch, retreated a little behind the walls, and started to triple the guard on the caravans of supplies. Jakardos, feeling that things were getting critical, took a patrol of 11 other men out for a scouting mission through the Kreegwood (to the south west of the fort) and then along the wooded banks of Lake Coal (to the west) and then towards the depths of the Kreeg holdings. They were a scouting party - camoflaged, silent, all rangers ... they had been gone just over a day when they came upon many, many tracks in the forest. Fresh tracks, as if dozens of ogres were marching, and it was pointing in a straight line towards Fort Rannick.

At that point they had turned and followed the tracks at a half-run all the way back to Fort Rannick, catching a few hours sleep every twelve hours, and then setting off again. They were too late. The fort had fallen and was occupied by the Kreegs.

Jakardos did not know what to do. At first he wanted to head south and alert the town, and then on to Magnimar, but they met up with a survivor who told them about the horrors that were unfolding inside, and they decided, enraged by the stories of butchery and worse, to try and retake the fort, or die trying.

About half of them died trying. The rest were pursued south for many hours, before the ogres grew bored of the chase. But then they fell straight into the hands of the Grauls. Too tired and battle-scared to put up a proper fight, they were captured, and then over the course of many days, tortured for fun, and eaten, often while still alive.

Only Kibb had escaped, and he had brought help, and now there was hope again.

 

[frostrune]

"A grim tale to be sure but you've got loyal friend in Kibb. You all have him to thank for your rescue."

"I realize you were outside the fort when it was taken. Any idea on the number of ogres that the Kreegs could field? How are they armed or armored?"

 

[Rhun]

The trek back to Turtleback Ferry had been something of a blur for Danth. With two poisoned companions, and a trio of weak, tortured rangers, he had plenty to occupy his time. He used what magic Sarenae granted him to heal the physical wounds of all in the group. The poison and the weakness of the long captivity were beyond his ability to quickly deal with though, at least with the magics he currently had prepared. But their would be time enough for that in the morning.

The night passed slowly. Danth got less sleep than he would have wished, waking every now and then to check on the wounded and ensure they were comfortable. And at dawn, he prayed...for the spells necessary to purge the poison from Jokad's and Jovik's systems, and magics that would restore the physical abilities of his charges.

And then, over breakfast, he listens to the rangers' tale.

OOC: Danth will use his 2 4th level slots for Neutralize Poisons for Jokad and Jovik, and all 4 2nd level slots on Lessor Restoration spells, which he will us on Jokad, Jovik, and any remaining ones on the rangers.

 

[frostrune]

OOC: Danth will use his 2 4th level slots for Neutralize Poisons for Jokad and Jovik, and all 4 2nd level slots on Lessor Restoration spells, which he will us on Jokad, Jovik, and any remaining ones on the rangers.

Jokad will need at least 2 of the lesser restorations (down 7 STR). Not sure if you will need the Neutralize poisons at all as i believe the venom has run its course. Not sure how all this stuff works in PF though...

 

[hewligan]

OOC: It appears you need 2 days rest for Danth to be able to cast all the required restoration spells (2 for Jokad, 1 for Jovik, 3 for the rangers).

Jakardos is adamant that when he is healed he is going to head straight back to the Fort. Sure, he accepts that clear messages have to be relayed south to Magnimar, but he HAS to try and get into the fort, whether by force or stealth.

When pushed on why he is so keen (for it becomes clear that while Vale Temros is 100% behind Jakardos, the younger Kaven Windstrike appears to want nothing to do with this), Jakardos just states two things:

"The Fort fell under my command", and "I have a personal reason ... "

You can press him further if you desire, but it requires a diplomacy skill roll from someone.

Kaven Windstrike shakes his head. "I have NO appetite for this". His eyes are on the table, as if trying to avoid Jakardos' gaze. "This is a suicide run. I'd rather volunteer to take the message south to Magnimar than run north to certain death."

Vale, almost always silent, lets out a 'pah!', his face does not hide the distaste he clearly feels.